Appleby’s team finish ahead of rivals to win racing staff event

Charlie Appleby’s Moulton Paddocks stable claimed the bragging rights during the latest edition of the Racing Staff Sports Day on Sunday.

Team Appleby came out as the convincing winners of the overall yard competition, followed by their counterparts from Roger Varian’s yard.

A packed schedule for the event, which was held on Newmarket Academy’s playing fields, included 12 individual races, a long jump competition, a relay race and the annual tug of war competition.

And it was Team Varian that made a bright start, winning the tug of war and also both of the 3,000m races courtesy of Oz Wedmore and Ozge Arsanoglu.

However, those victories only served to inspire Team Appleby into action, with Wayne Hogg (200m & 400m), Hannah Pollard (400m & 800m) and Leah Mapston (200m & long jump) leading the way with two wins apiece.

They were not alone as Godolphin winners, either, as Derek McGaffin took the 1,500m crown to go with his 30,00m silver.

Elsewhere, James Beasley of James Tate’s yard won the men’s 100m in decisive fashion, while a two-runner women’s 100m race was won by Emma Carey of Ed Dunlop’s.

Other individual winners on the day were Pavla Sedlakova from Simon Crisford (1500m), Bruno Sampayo from Sir Mark Prescott (long jump) and Adam Elias from Sir Micheal Stoute (800m).

The event-ending 4x100m relay was particularly controversial as Team Appleby were disqualified for a second false start, handing victory to John Gosden’s squad.

It mattered little to the outcome, though, as Appleby’s yard had amassed enough points previously to be crowned champions.

George McGrath, chief executive of the National Association of Stable Staff, said: “It’s a really great occasion to bring together racing staff and their families for a relaxed day out.

“We hope to build on this occasion and do more days like this in the future.

“Days like today demonstrate it’s not all about hard work and early mornings. It’s about a sense of team camaraderie and having fun.”

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